A Former Watch Replica Salesman

Author: towear

I am proud to say that my life never went off track again and I have been working as an honest and genuine man ever since. If there has been anything I would like anyone reading this to take from my stories it would be 2 things.

It’s Never Too Late

No matter what situation you have gotten yourself in. No matter how bad things seem to have gotten for you or someone you know, just keep in mind that it is never too late to change your ways and direct your life however you want to.

Something that I told myself a lot back when I was transitioning to life without the watch shop is that no matter how bad you think your life is, it could ALWAYS be worse. There are people going through misery and hard times that people like us couldn’t even imagine and always reminding myself this got me through a lot of hard times.

You CAN Change!

Major life changes are not easy for anyone and starting the process is next to impossible for most people. You have to get all of these thoughts out of your head and stay positive. If it takes you actually sitting down and writing down what you need to change in your life or finding a support system to get behind you then so be it.

Trust me when I say that taking those first steps are the hardest and it only gets easier.

Now that you know what I did after finally leaving my job with Terry, was there anything I missed from working at the watch shop?

The Obvious

Well needless to say, the huge pay cut I took was kind of hard to stomach at that age. Even though I was making my money by lying to people, I was making a lot and it was really hard to part with.

Alright, it wasn’t that bad. But being in your early 20’s without a degree and making the kind of money I was making was awesome. But looking back, I was spending it on worthless things and kind of going down the wrong path so what good is money if you are throwing it away and slowly killing yourself?

That’s It

Aside from the money I was making, I can honestly and happily say that there was not one thing about working in that watch shop that I missed.

Not only was I finally making an honest and decent living, I have never made my dad so proud. Not just because of my new jobs, but also because I came clean about everything that was going on at the shop. Not to sound too cliche, but this was a feeling that you honestly could never put a price on and I will never forget.

I am proud to say that I never turned back to a life of any dishonesty. ToWear was finally on the right track!

So at this point I was no longer the watch salesman that I once was. Home inspecting was definitely my primary focus and number 1 priority of the two, but to come close to the amount of money I was making with Terry at his watch shop I really didn’t have many options other than getting a second job working for one of my dad’s friend Scott’s little local roof and gutter company.

Looking back, the two jobs actually kind of complimented each other perfectly. I knew what to look for as far as damage to a roof or gutters go for any potential home buyers and for my position with Scott, I knew exactly what needed to be done to qualify as quality home improvement work that an actual inspector would approve.

Side Job

I really only worked for Scott one or two days a week and it was mostly on weekends. I really did enjoy it though because at this point, I had only worked for Terry and never really had to do any blue collar jobs and it was a nice change. Got good exercise and gave me a reason to be outside.

Scott’s company did all sorts of jobs for roofing and gutters on residential homes. Take a look at premieregutterguard.com to get an idea of some of the stuff I had to do. This company doesn’t do roofing and Scott’s did, but I really only worked with gutters so I don’t have much to talk about that aspect of it. I never had to install full systems or anything crazy like that. Scott knew he was doing my father a favor by hiring me and I don’t think he wanted to work me that hard because frankly, I really was pretty under qualified.

One thing I will admit though, I was absolutely great at cleaning gutters. Scott even pulled me aside one day to tell me that I was better and put more attention to detail than some of the guys who had been working for him for years and it made me feel great actually getting praise from someone respectable and not a scumbag like I had been used to working for.

A lot of people honestly let their gutters get this bad and I was right there to clean up the mess. Scott’s company also installed these heavy duty gutter covers thing that stopped the above from happening. That was a little beyond what I was capable of doing though and I mostly stuck to the cleaning.

Who knows where I would have been if I never took on these 2 new jobs. I’d probably be carrying out Terry’s miserable legacy.

Now that you know that I finally made the transition into careers that were something I could actually be proud of, I will talk a little bit about each to give you a better idea of who I am and to show you that ToWear is not that deceitful salesman I once was.

Certification

Luckily for me, I got into the business of home inspection when it was pretty young and the demand was very high when the scene first came out. Click here if you have no idea what a home inspector is and want a little introduction.

At this point it had been years since I was in high school and I kind of forgot how to use my brain so it took a day or two to get it back moving but the motivation I received from my father was enough to get me through it.

The class was only 2 and a half weeks when it first came out and I passed everything with flying colors my first try. Needless to say my father could not have been more proud of me and even if I started making pennies an hour, it would have been worth it.

Redemption

What I loved most about this job was giving my now professional and honest opinions I would have to give to potential home buyers. The thing about it was that whether or not they decided to buy the house, my pay was unaffected so unlike my previous sales job I could actually be a genuine person and steer people in the right direction.

I absolutely loved the job and avoided a long road of misery and dishonesty that I was heading down.

At this point I have come clean with my father and told him all about the horrible job I have been doing and how I have been making so much money just out of high school. My father gave me the talk about how detrimental this could be to my life and this could be the start of a long road down the wrong path.

Terry

The very next day I walked into work and immediately walked into Terry’s office to break the news to him. He actually handled it much better than I thought he would, He wasn’t mad but he was extremely disappointed that I was leaving because he loved having a younger guy working for him working as his little protege, molding me into the horrible and dishonest man that he was.

I walked out and after picking up my last paycheck later that week, I never saw Terry again.

What Now?

College was pretty out of the question for me at this point. My father didn’t have the money for me to go and I had wasted most of what I had made on partying and other useless stuff that was of no benefit to bettering my life.

It was at this point that I decided the only real option that I had was to go to some sort of trade school and learn a blue collar trade instead. I got my certification to be a home inspector and on the side I worked for my father’s friend’s company, restoring roofs and gutters. To give you an idea of the transition, I went from selling fake watches for thousands of dollars to this:

Needless to say it wasn’t easy, but it was something I had to do. I’ll get more into my new life and jobs on the next one so stay tuned to ToWear!

There I was, sitting with my dad and telling him that the main source of my new and great income was coming from selling people fake watches and trying to take advantage of what people didn’t know.

Not Mad, Disappointed

I remember my father immediately looked at me and didn’t really say much but he didn’t have to. I guess deep down I knew what I was doing was wrong but I really didn’t want to believe it and I wanted to pretend what I was doing was totally legitimate.

All jokes aside, my father told me that one thing he never thought he would have to actually sit down and teach me was to always be honest and hard working. Never forget where you came from and who you are.

So after years of working for this horrible man and making great money for my age, I decided it was time to move on and quit this horrible place.

What Next?

I could barely sleep that night. How was I going to start making money? What else is there to do? Will I ever be good at another job?

It was horrible but I knew no matter what I decided I was going to do, it was going to be better for me and my life than working for this replica watch salesmen.

This use of social darwinism was what I used to get by and continue working for Terry for the years. In a way I always knew it was wrong of me to be doing what I was doing but i kind of buried any of these thoughts and just kept on doing what I was doing and making as much money as I could,

On Top of the World

This is how I felt when I first started and after high school, I was dying to make anything I could. I was paying for everything and was making way more than any of my friends at the time. Looking back though, they definitely got the last laugh as almost all of their jobs was a stepping stone to better things.

Thank God I eventually changed my ways because if I would have kept working at this watch store, I would have ended up owning the place and who knows what kind of monster I would have turned into.

Reality Check

I remember the day that I finally mentioned to my father what I had been doing at this replica watch store and he was the one who snapped me back into reality.

Doesn’t everyone have a sort of story or look that their parents give them that you know they aren’t mad they are just “disappointed.”

This is what my dad gave me and I immediately realized what I had been doing this whole time.

Now that you know exactly what my boss, Terry would tell me to convince me what I was doing was OK I can go into a little bit more detail about what he meant from it.

So at this point, I’m assuming most people at least have an idea of what the idea of “Social Darwinism” is but for those who don’t, it is the same kind of basic idea of natural selection in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

Natural selection relies on the idea of survival of the fittest, where only those who were strong enough survived long enough to pass on their genes that got them to that point. Well Social Darwinism is the same idea but instead of genes and traits being what composes the “fittest,” money is what separates the weak from the fit.

So in this theory, only those who have the money and means to survive will “socially survive” in this competitive market place.

This is what Terry shoved in my head and force fed me while I worked for him. He had me convinced that everyone out there has this mentality and if you don’t adapt to it like them, then you will inevitably become the weak and eventually die off from the herd.

Somewhat Applicable

Even today, the theory makes sense in some ways. I think we have gotten to the point where we can care for each other so survival isn’t actually necessary but those with the most resources and money will absolutely have an advantage of ‘surviving “in this crazy world we live in.

Every Man For Himself

This is what my boss from that horrible watch job would tell me every day during my training and continue to tell me on a daily basis when I was actually working. I don’t know if he just told himself and me this to try and justify it to himself and mask any feelings of guilt he may have been having, but it worked on a fresh out of high school 19 year old ready to make any money he could anyway he could.

It Made Sense

I remember one day specifically we were in the back office doing out closing paperwork for the day and putting in the sales report along with all the other boring duties that go along with closing a store and Terry began going into more detail about what he meant by “every man for himself.”

He became my self-appointed teacher and mentor when it came to this stuff and he began teaching me a little bit about Darwin’s theory of evolution and how it applies perfectly to people in a social sense as well.

Looking back, I think he was taking credit for having come up with the idea of “Social Darwinism” all on his own and I was his protégé. I had heard of the term before but never really applied it to any real situations at that point in my life and I hate to say it, but it really worked on me.

I’ll talk more about exactly what this meant to me tomorrow here on ToWear!H

Alright so now that you know a little bit about my job as a replica watch salesmen from yesterday I can talk a little bit more about it.

Thought it Was Normal

So right after high school I started applying at a bunch of different places and the one I landed wasn’t my first choice but never being one to like school, I was happy to take anything.

I worked for a worthless human being and we will call him Terry. I am sure he is dead by now but out of whatever littler respect I have for him I won’t share his real name. When I started working there he showed me everything I needed to know about scamming people out of their money and what to look for in a high quality replica watch

When I say high quality, I mean how close it actually is to the real thing. I can tell any real watch from their replica now matter how close they are. I learned everything I know from him and he sort of took me under his wing. He really liked having me work there and I really didn’t mind it at first either.

Terry had me convinced that this was the way the world was and everyone had to do what they had to do to get by. Every man for himself, so to speak.

It took a few months before I started realizing how awful I was being to people. I will talk about the changes I have made on here eventually so stay tuned!